For the first year of his confinement, as far as one could judge from his brief notes, the prisoner suffered severely from loneliness and depression. The sounds of the piano could be heard continually day and night from his lodge. He refused wine and tobacco. Wine, he wrote, excites the desires, and desires are the worst foes of the prisoner; and besides, nothing could be more dreary than drinking good wine and seeing no one. And tobacco spoilt the air of his room. In the first year the books he sent for were principally of a light character; novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories, and so on.
Determine the causes and effects in this passage, and then enter your answer into the space provided. Be as detailed as possible in your response. Provide at least three sentences for your answer. Include specific quotations from the text that show why you came to your conclusion.
Answer:
The causes in this passage include the prisoner’s confinement and subsequent loneliness and depression, which are evidenced by his constant playing of the piano and his refusal of wine and tobacco. The prisoner’s decision to refuse wine and tobacco is also due to his belief that wine excites desires, which are detrimental to a prisoner, and that tobacco spoils the air of his room. These causes lead to several effects: the continual playing of the piano, the refusal of wine and tobacco, and the prisoner’s request for light reading material, such as novels with complicated love plots and sensational stories. Specific quotations that support these conclusions include “the prisoner suffered severely from loneliness and depression,” “Wine, he wrote, excites the desires, and desires are the worst foes